Malevil Cup

The trip started well with a hire car upgrade to a Focus ST estate - fabulous and a lot less scary than the usual woefully under-powered Kias we usually end up in.  Lots of fun.  We signed on and headed to the accommodation, which appeared to be a hotel on Booking.com but was more of a very basic hostel hidden half way up a hill in the middle of the woods.  We found somewhere nearby for dinner and had the bikes built just as it was getting dark.  A group of local factory workers were up drinking until the early hours, they were a friendly bunch, but we got some sleep eventually...

Race day dawned and it was already getting very hot.  The forecast was good until the early afternoon where biblical thunderstorms were due.  Eek.  A good incentive to get round quickly.  With the race being 100km and not too hilly (2200m climbing) set myself a goal of 5hrs.  The course was fantastic; a real mix of Euro-bombing fireroads, steep loose and rocky climbs, field sections, rocky chutes and some really flowy, rooty singletrack descents.  It was a brilliant loop and there were even some nice views from the top of a few bergs - yes, the race crossed into Germany and also Poland for a bit.  The first descent after about 15km was my favourite - all singletrack, it started rocky then turned to a sinuous ribbon of dirt through the trees and round fields.  It was superb, even if I did need to avoid a few riders who’d over cooked some of the bends...

I might have got a bit over-excited on the first 50km and was running in the top 30 at one point - the Mach 4 was loving the descents and I was able to drop other riders.  I’ve learnt a lot over the years racing in Europe - especially to expect the unexpected in terms of a sudden really scary bit - but this course was largely fast and fun.  There were some sudden drops and rock gardens but on the Mach 4 I was able to keep on cracking on.  It’s also worth reflecting on the new ODI Float grips as I’ve used them for a few races now.  I’d been a stalwart user of Rogues for about a decade, but Ison convinced me to try these.  All I can say is my hands don’t have the callouses they used to and my hands didn’t cramp on the epic descents at Tiliment Marathon Bike this year, so they get a big seal of approval from me.

After the 50km point, the course toughened as we headed up steep, bottom gear grind, 650m then 750m climbs in quick succession.  I ran out of steam up the second one big time, but the descents and always having someone to ride with kept me pushing on.  With it now nearing 30 degrees and with very high humidity, the inevitable (for me) cramp hit at 82km.  I rather ungraciously freewheeled to a halt on a flat fire road, apologised to the rider who wasn’t paying attention and bumped into the back of me, sorted myself out and carried on; only for it to reoccur badly at 90km.  I was in such a bad state that an old lady, watching the race from her house adjacent to the course, invited me in and fed and watered me.  Not sure that’s in the UCI rule book but at this point I was past caring.  Eventually it was time to leave and soft pedal the 6 miles to the finish!  I lost about 17 minutes in the final 20km, which was largely downhill... nevermind.

The race was superbly organised - neutral feed bottles were handed up at all the feed stations which was a huge bonus for Tim and me who usually loose minutes at each one having to stop and refill.  I was handed up (refilled) used and discarded bottles from other riders, so they did a good job recycling them, this is really something other events should consider.

Within 2 hours from the end of the race, the heavens were illuminated with constant lightening, the sort I’ve not really seen before.  The hostel was shaking with the thunder.  The power went out at our hostel and so we drove around, through floods, trying to find somewhere that was both open and had electricity to make us dinner!

I certainly hope to be back next year.

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